Fountainebleau

Friday I had to go to Versailles again for the same tour I did last quarter. Needless to say I didn't stick around very long (as I'm not really partial to Versailles) and I ended up in a McDonald's while everyone else continued the tour. This trip, however, influenced my decision to go with several classmates to Fountainebleau, and to visit the grand palace situated there.

It takes about 45 minutes by TER train to get to Fountainebleau, and let me tell you, we had quite the Amazing Race moment when we got to the train station! We were running a bit late, and Gare de Lyon in Paris was packed with people. We couldn't find the ticket counters, and we were literally watching the clock tick down to the moment the train was leaving. We literally managed to jump on the train seconds before it started to roll out. Crazy. The ride to Fountainebleau was nice, quick, and we arrived at the station there in good form. From the station its about a 40 minute walk to the palace, or about ten minutes on local bus. I quite like ridding the bus, so we jumped on and headed through the city. Fountainebleau, the city, is very characteristic of mid-size French cities. There is a main drag with most major chains, and then smaller streets where the residences are. Very cute.

The palace at Fountainebleau has a much longer history than that at Versailles. While Versailles was just hanging around as a hunting cabin, Fountainebleau was already the hub of the French monarchy. From Henri II on French monarchs have called Fountainebleau home, for at least part of their reign. Even Napoleon kept apartments there! This means that there is much more to see at Fountainebleau than Versailles, even though size-wise Versailles is much bigger. You can see the history of the palace as you past from room to room. Where some apartments are done in the Renaissance style, others are done in the classic or post-revolution styles. You can also see some very curious places that are important to French history. The last remaining throne room in France is at Fountainebleau, as it was spared by the revolutionaries, and the room where Napoleon abdicated his position as emperor is also in Fountainebleau. While at Fountainebleau we walked around on our own terms, with the audio guide, which is where I learned all of this. Just an aside, I am much more partial to audio guides when learning French history. Only because I get tired of art so I can fastforward. Unorthodox, I know.

The gardens at Fountainebleau aren't of the same nature as those at Versailles, but they are very impressive none the less. What is interesting in going to places like these is that the front of these palaces usually faces the city and is on a busy-ish street, but then you go out back and you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. It's great! We wandered the gardens for awhile before heading back towards the train station. Oh, and we grabbed some of the local specialties too... huge croissants filled with cheese and meat!

Pictures:

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